WOW Word-Of-the-Week #314: Smiling
August 2, 2010 by Susan Clarke
Smiling – what you want to do to live longer.
In the course of a typical day, how many people do you see smiling? What’s your first response when you see someone smiling? In the course of a typical day what percentage of the time are you smiling?
My almost 92 year-old dad & brother
The Washington Post ran an article titled, “Smiling ballplayers outlive the grim-faced.” In it they wrote, “The old saying goes: Smile and the world smiles with you. Well, according to new research, smile and you may give yourself more time in this world as well.”
“Researchers examined 230 photographs of 230 professional baseball players from the 1952 Baseball Registry. They then rated each player’s expression, noting where they had no smile, a partial smile or a full smile.
“The researchers used a database of information about the players to examine the relationship between smile intensity and longevity, taking into consideration factors such as how long they played baseball, whether they had a college education, and their weight. All but 46 of the players had died by the time the study began in 2009.”
“Players with a broad smile lived an average of five years longer than players who didn’t smile. Even the players who had half-smiles tended to live a couple of years longer than the non-smilers. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that emotional states play a role in health and well-being, the researchers said.”
So if that’s true, does it make you want to smile more? Does your job entail dealing with customers, members, guests or clients? Did you know that when you smile your tone of voice changes? This week I want to hear your success stories because your smiling everyday!
Reader Responses
“Just a quick note to say thank you for so faithfully and freely providing the community at large with your FUN-damental WOWs. I also wanted to say that I’ve enjoyed the way you have more recently included personal stories, pictures, etc. into your messages. You make me smile!!” – Linda